Red Sox ain’t got nothin’ to be afraid of in the AL

If the Red Sox just keep up what they’re doing, then there’s No Doubt they’ll be in the postseason. And they should have you feeling Hella Good, so let’s just keep on dancing.

Do yourself a favor and take a look at the American League standings. No. Wait. That’s my job. OK, so the Red Sox — they look like they’ll make the playoffs. They’ve got a good shot at the division too. Good for them. And then you’ve got the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers. After that, my guess is the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles for the wildcard.

Just think about that for a moment. The Indians have two of their top three starting pitchers hurt — Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco. They might not be able to overcome those injuries. RIP Indians World Series dreams. They have a great squad regardless. But are they a World Series team? That would take some serious Terry Francona voodoo black magic.

And then you’ve got the Texas Rangers. How’s their pitching staff been? Not so good. Through 17 games in September, they had a 5.78 team ERA. That’s the worst in the American League. And guess who had the best team ERA in September? The Red Sox (2.94).

So what’s that leave? Two teams? OK, so the Toronto Blue Jays have the worst offense in baseball this month (58 runs in 17 games). They’re also 6-11 this month with a 4.75 ERA on the mound. So yeah, the Orioles are pretty much the only apparent “threat”. They’re a good team. They’re doing alright hitting and their pitching is solid. But the Red Sox also have the best bats in baseball. And Mookie Betts has been pretty, pretty, pretty good against the O’s, so there’s that.